Untruths
by Whiparm42
Summary: Everyone is hungry. Still. The only sources of food are un-mutated animals, fish, and vegetation. Something strange begins happening; islanders begin showing up. No connection to Lies; it will basically be a conclusion after Hunger.
1. Chapter 1

"We may just be getting off this island." He said; not to himself, but to anything listening.

"And then what sir?" Alucard replied. He had been sitting motionless in proximity to the speaker and unknown to him as well for a while now.

"Then we do something Alucard. Though I'm not sure what exactly we shall do."

"Of course Morpheus." He responded. It was getting very boring being restricted to the island, and just the thought of escape would be a welcomed hope, which he had given up months ago. This island was destined to be their tomb.

No one knew how to make a boat safe enough to hold on water. And Luna was a three at best; there was no way she could hold them all, and it would take a long time for her to recharge enough to go back for more. Judging by the land mutants, there were bound to be creatures just as fierce in the sea. The divide and conquer method wouldn't work here; it didn't even have a chance.

"You seem as if you doubt this Alucard."

"It would be near impossible for Kate to amplify Luna to the point where carrying all of us would be a good idea."

"You can fly, and I could always swim; that's two people from their load already."

"I could never allow you to swim that distance unaided sir."

"Then have patience, I guarantee you that we'll leave before tomorrow is through."

Alucard turned and began walking. He had serious doubts. Luna couldn't be used to their fullest desire at her current level, even with their Amplifier. It was a long day, and sleep would be greatly appreciated.

"Guard him." He said as he raised his hand level with his shoulder. His shadow became much darker than it should have been capable of in the understated light of the setting sun. It appeared slightly higher than the land it rested on, and despite the uneven terrain, formed his perfect double. It saluted him and turned into a shapeless mass that went quickly back to where Morpheus was still sitting.

"If I know him right," Alucard said to himself, "He'll be awake until the sun is in the middle of the sky, just thinking of any and all things he can."

"Damn it!" Caine shouted. "If I tell you I want you to go hunt for food, you had better show me results! I'm starving; we all are! But you all seem to be _tired_, or _too hungry to move_. It's sickening."

Every single one of his drones was cowering far from him. After all, no one wants to be used as a discus.

"You will not fail me again." He said with an assurance only a dictator could muster when talking to his soldiers.

He turned and began walking back to Coates; back to Dianna. The second he took a step toward the school, they all scurried off. Caine knew it, and didn't care. After his demonstration, they would be looking for any way to get food possible.

He grabbed one of the few morsels of food left in the industrial freezer. While it was running, it was used for everything. It was good that Jack had suggested they put a lot of water in, because the temperature of liquid changes slower than solids. Now it was moderately cool, and something could be put in here to last longer than things put outside.

He entered Dianna's room to, "Well your little speech was pleasant. I certainly hope none of them try to flee."

"They won't. One thing they know not to do is try to run." Caine said with assurance. He had found one useful freak among the trash; one that could hound any of those who fled relentlessly. No one wanted to be brought back to Caine after they left; they knew it would be horrible.

"Well if you're _so_ sure, oh fearless leader. By the way, what are you doing with that?" She said, indicating the scrap of food in his hand.

"Something for you." Caine said.

"I thought this was based on ration system" She said while tearing a large chunk out of it, which didn't say much; it was only a squirrel.

"Why would you even care?"

"I just want to know that I'm taking it from someone. What other motivation for asking is there?"

That was what he liked about her. Even in unimaginable hunger and weakness, she had a mean streak comparable to that of her old self.

He got close to her ear and said, "I never want you to leave me, and I will do anything to keep you."

"Now that sounded weak." She said. He thought he heard a faint touch of pain in her voice. Whether it was from pain of hunger, or pain of emotion, he didn't know. And he wanted to protect her, or take most of it himself.

"I love you."

"I know you do Caine. I know you do."


	2. Chapter 2

Zil was scouring the streets he still had control of for the freaks."They could be anywhere men." He called back to his vanguard of humans. "And we have to find them. At any cost."

"I've heard a report about a freak living over at Zach's house. Low level, and wouldn't be hard to pick off," said one of the officers.

"Fine, take a few men and get over there at once."

Many of them jumped up and down, waving their hands in the air, just to be called on. Every one of them wanted the opportunity to silence a freak today; some just for the reward offered by the Human Crew for every kill. They had found an entire field of cabbage, which normally wouldn't be appetizing, but food was food now.

Only one of them hung back. Even in the dark, it was clear who she was. Emma, or Mae as preferred to be called, the only one with long hair; and the only one capable of focusing all of the moonlight so dim everywhere else onto her radiant white hair.

"Aren't you going to be joining in on the fun Zil?" She asked.

"I have much better things to do. We're going to pay a visit to the freak's mall like place." He said. He realized after he said it that he said we, not I.

"Good idea. Do you think they have security there?"

"Of course not. They're freaks; little more than barbarians. They couldn't possibly think of something as simple as that."

"You're right of course." She said as they began walking.

It turned out they were wrong. There were some people guarding the various shops, and a lot of them. Entrance would be near impossible. They even had Sam's damn _freak_ lights.

"Never mind. We're pulling out and going home." He said to her.

He spat at the ground in disgust. It wouldn't be the first time the freaks had thought of a basic thing. He would outsmart them next time.

When he returned to the area, he was greeted by rowdy shouts that woke the normals too afraid to do anything but brave enough to stay. They had snared one.

"What should we do with her?" One of the officers shouted.

From a window close to the spectacle, an older girl shouted, "For god's sake, she's only eight. Just let her run free."

Zil turned to his men and said, "I think we have a supporter gentleman. And I've definitely heard that voice before. Bring her here and then we'll _bury_ the evidence that they've ever been here."

This was greeted by shouts of approval and a surge of bodies toward the house. While some of them were dragging the girl from her home, a few others were mercilessly beating the eight year old that they had dragged from her home earlier. They stopped only when she lost conscience.

Once the girl was dragged out, the party surged onward to the Pit; a special area that they threw some of the mutants they snared to let rot. To them, it was a great spectacle and good fun for all; to anyone in it, it was a relief to be away from all of the Human Crew brutes, but it was hell all the same.

The Human Crew used the Pit as a bathroom mostly, and threw stones at the freaks inside it. It was still better than being up there with them if you were a freak. No one would want that.

%%%

Sam woke with a start. He had been having the same nightmare over and over again; one where all he could feel was pain, all he could hear was laughter, and all he could see was _his_ smile and that god-forsaken tentacle of an arm.

He realized that he was drenched with a cold sweat when he rose out of the bed and his sheets were sticking to him. He extinguished some of the lights he produced around his bed; he had found out a while ago that it was impossible for him to go to sleep and retain control over his powers when there was no light. He had already lost a house and had to relocate because of it. Somehow, and it was hard to believe, the nightmares were worse without the light.

He walked toward the bathroom for a set of clothes. Astrid would be over, and he wasn't presentable like this. Water was scarce, so he had to go to the beach for a bath. Everyone did now, even if they had felt shy before, water was too scarce to waist anymore of.

While he was disrobing he thought he saw motion near the edge of his peripheral vision, which he discounted immediately as the feeble waves that were produced now. He looked around and was surprised that the beach was this empty until he looked up at the sky; he hadn't noticed, but the sun was only just above the horizon.

Once he got into the water, the salt started to sting various cuts he had received earlier in the week. He was almost done with his bath when an enormous wave hit him into the shore. He looked out and saw three people holding hands in, or on top of, the water and people trailing behind them, actually supported by the water.

He backed up quickly and began shouting for someone to come out here; he knew that The Breeze would be out and about by now and that she could be near here. They crashed on the beach in one large heap, and he saw Jack, Dekka, and Brianna approaching.

Everyone in the heap looked as if they had been on the brink of malnourishment, which was a surprise considering everyone was starving.

Sam leapt three feet in the air when he heard a voice behind him that didn't belong to any of his friends say, "Well, aren't you going to help them up?"

"I-it just rose from the shadows Sam!" Shouted Computer Jack, who was pointing a finger at the shape encased in a shroud of black.

"I'm not an it." He said, still behind Sam. "I'm a freak." He said, suddenly behind Jack. The place he had been standing became a liquid-like shadow that cascaded to the ground.

It was then Jack's turn to leap a yard into the air.

With everyone's feeble attempts at helping the clump of tangled people up, Dekka raised her hands level with her shoulders and suspended gravity.

It worked much better than what was happening.

The look of awe on the children of the group's faces was that of awe and amazement.

One of the older boys, with a natural grace befitting only a leader stepped forward. It was the kind of thing they only saw with Caine when this whole thing started.

"Thank you, stranger." He said, in an odd gesture of something Sam could only think of as humility at the time.

"Who are you?" Brianna said after an awkward moment in time when no one spoke.

"Stand please children and peers." He said.

They all complied with his will for some reason Sam couldn't understand. Even the little ones who looked to be around seven did this. It even seemed to be arranged by age.

"I am Morpheus. The man you just met is my friend Alucard. This," he said indicating the first girl in the line, "is Kate. And this-"he tried to finish but was interrupted by The Breeze.

"You have about twenty people there. This will take forever. We should get you to Astrid, and then you can introduce yourselves to us individually when you register for a house."

"You make a good point then…"

"Brianna, though most people call me The Breeze."

"Brianna, you make a good point. And you people even have a system of order. How nice."

"Well," said Sam, "If you'll just follow Jack to town, we'll show you around after you register."

As people started moving, Brianna and Dekka hung back with Sam.

"Did you notice something odd about them?" Sam asked.

"I definitely saw an Adam's apple on one of the girls in that line," said The Breeze.

"That doesn't mean anything. Their leader and that Alucard character felt predatory; just like Drake." Dekka said.

"Well, we may just have to wait and see what happens with them. For now, we let them stay; they've done nothing wrong to us after all," said Sam.

"Caine, Drake, and Dianna didn't do anything to us until it suited their agenda; don't be lulled into a false sense of security." Dekka said.

"I wasn't planning to." Sam replied with a grave look toward the town hall.

%%%

"What happens now sir?" Alucard said.

"Nothing. We wait and consider what to do next. We don't even know what we want except for power over people."

"Very well then sir. We'll just bide our time."

Jack just kept walking. To a spectator, it would have looked like he didn't care about what he was hearing. But he wasn't hearing anything Morpheus didn't want him to.


	3. Chapter 3

"…And so I propose we channel more resources into the day care program. If we do that, the children could be used more effectively and…"

It was always like this. 'How can we use this?' Followed by a thousand reasons why it couldn't be worth it. With her brain, Astrid could almost predict the things they were going to say.

It could be argued that this council wasn't even worth it; that a dictator would be more effective in deciding matters. She knew they needed laws, and fairness in governmental decision, but she had to agree with Sam on this one thing; things took forever when there wasn't much to be gained from siding with one another. Especially with the snack food provided courtesy of Quinn to all the representatives.

She was about to raise a point that child labor was a morally wrong concept, even if it could possibly lead to more food for all, when a loud banging on the doors to the building was heard, cutting the speaker off in mid sentence.

"Astrid, there're people here to see the council." Jack said.

"And the council will see them at this meetings conclusion." She replied while turning her attention back to the group.

"No, Astrid, you don't understand. They're from the _islands_."

Albert immediately rose to his feet and called out, "What?"

"The islands I believe he said Albert, and they probably didn't bring batteries or a form of money. Please take your seat." Astrid said. She could hear more than muttering behind her as she went to the door.

She looked at Jack, then the thirty or so faces staring at her. "Where is Sam?" She asked in a whisper.

"They're bringing up the rear. What are we going to do with them?" He replied, pointing toward the crowd.

"Might I suggest we introduce ourselves when we requisition a home?" One of them, the apparent leader, said.

It was said in such a way that, through the feeling of unease, Astrid could only half say half mutter, "Of course. Right this way."

The party approached the center of the room, in front of all the delegates. Their leader stepped forward and said, "My name is Morpheus. It would be very good if you could give my friends and I a place to reside. Preferably a large one so that we can accommodate all present."

"Do the others have names?" One of the more short tempered delegates asked.

"Of course, this is-"

"I'd prefer it if they talked for themselves, just so we know you didn't buy them off the street and pay for Jack's loyalty."

"I don't know how that would prove I didn't," he said, making the speaker's face go a deep red, "but if you insist upon it. Alucard, move them into order."

The tallest one, Alucard, began arranging them in order unknown to any. It may have been an order that would be most convenient to get a point across, because it looked too rehearsed for something bought this morning.

"As you have seen, I am Alucard." He said bowing his head slightly and getting back into the line at the farthest left point.

One of the girls walked forward. She had an heir of confidence unseen by those trapped in the starving world for too long. "My name is Kate." She said bowing her head in the same fashion as Alucard had before.

"Luna."

"Hacker."

"Mockingbird."

"Crow."

"Xander."

They all did the same thing. Step forward, bow, name, back up. It was almost mechanical. They all seemed strange in some unidentifiable way except two. One of the girls in line, Mockingbird, definitely wasn't biologically a girl, but other than that, she couldn't pick up more than foreboding. And the boy who advanced next. He would be burned into Astrid's mind for a while. He was strange in very many ways. She just noticed it, but he hadn't blinked since arriving. He was bald, and he had odd markings on his head.

"Strings." He said in a barely audible whisper.

Then came the children. Astrid hardly paid attention, probably to evaluate what was odd about everyone and what was going on with the last boy. It grabbed her attention when Morpheus' voice brought her back to the present, what she assumed was, minutes later. "Do we have our house then?"

"We must discuss it, but it seems like it would be fine." Astrid said. It was like she wasn't in her proper state of mind today. She just kept agreeing with him; wanting to give him what he desired.

"Astrid, are you insane?" Albert asked standing immediately, "we hardly know him. He could be trying to get food, people, what have you and get out."

"I assure you I can be trusted." Morpheus said with a small smile crossing his lips. "If you want to test me, put me, or should I say, us on a probationary period. It should solve all of this."

Albert sat back immediately watching his entire argument dissolve with little effort. It was the rule of the FAYZ; you sound grown up enough, people will follow you for comfort, no matter how unreasonable the request.

"We'll put this to vote then. If you could just wait outside until we finish it would be greatly appreciated." Astrid said.

"Of course Astrid, come then children." He said. He began ushering out the children. Those he had introduced first were the only ones left with him as the last child shuffled out the door.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, are any of you... with Power?" Astrid said with a little hesitance.

"Everyone but the younger kids, why?"

"Just watch out for anyone calling themselves Human Crew. They'll try to kill you."

"Good to know." He muttered as he left the room.

%%%

"Do we get to rough up this, Human Crew, sir?" Asked Alucard.

"Only if we see them, we can't pick fights too early now. It would be bad for the plan." Morpheus replied.

"If we do see them," Xander said, "than I want at least one."

"Should we tell them why we were on the island in the first place?" Kate asked.

"We should save that story for another time I think. We'll stick to an interfamily camping trip. That sounds harmless enough, right?" Morpheus asked.

Everyone began laughing in a hair raising, spine tingling way.

"I should really count them, just in case someone else has." Morpheus said to himself.

"We have your answer." Someone called from the courthouse.

"We'll be right there." Morpheus called back. When they went back in, older kids only, he had left four more islanders than they came into the courthouse for the first time with.


End file.
